1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a survey program for use on a portable terminal in exit polling and the like, and a method of generation the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to now, the general survey method performed on the street, for example an exit poll or a traffic volume survey and the like, was that a surveyor carried survey forms and a portable counter, filled in a survey form for each surveyed person, and added up numerical values of the counter.
Then, the survey information collected, as noted above, was amassed at the survey center via a facsimile and a telephone, and inputted by an operator at the survey center with a keyboard or other such input device into a computer for tallying. After the statistical processing, the findings of the survey were reported to the news media or to a client who had requested the survey.
However, the above-mentioned survey collection method seems to be premodern, and it is quite obvious that the collection and the analyzing of the survey information at the survey center are extremely inefficient. Therefore, it has been desired to develop a technique that enables input of information electronically at the point of conducting the survey on the street, and collect and analyze the survey information automatically.
Considering these facts, applicants have proposed, in Japanese Patent Application 2001-29670, a technique that makes it possible to detect how many times each key is pushed in real time on the server side, and perform statistical processing immediately, using a portable telephone which enables it to connect to a network which connects to a server.
After the implementation of this technique, the applicants realized that it is necessary to improve this prior invention further.
Namely, since above the prior invention needed to connect the portable telephone and the server constantly, the information collection was sometimes disrupted due to communication disturbances in areas of poor electric wave condition, like the inside of a building.
Further, although the above prior invention was effective in a traffic volume survey and the like, in which a numerical value merely increased incrementally (+1), it was not suitable for a questionnaire survey which asks the age, gender, address, etc., of the surveyed person. Thus there was a desire to develop a survey system that was capable of coping with various surveys in a flexible way.